CVA mountain rifle lands n grooves?

[Sjfriend]

Looking at getting started shooting my new toy. Have a few different patching and balls enroute. What I am wondering is depth of grooves (or heights of lands) of said rifle. It is a USA stamped 50cal barrel on the CVA mountain rifle. I know I've seen it some where but can't find any more. Wondering which combos will work best. Or if .495s might work. I'll get this thing figured out soon

 

[coloradoclyde]

I would try a .490 ball and .015 patch or
a .495 ball and a .010 patch

 

[rijerolmon]

Mine likes .490 with 18th. ticking (spit patch) and 55 grains FFF. 1 in 66 twist. Most of those guns are great shooters.

 

[mooman76]

I didn't measure mine but they usually drop a little larger than .490 especially with alloys. More like .492/3. Patch thickness can make up the difference, just try thicker patches.

 

[Sjfriend]

Thanks for all the replies.

My order has 3 patch thicknesses in it to try out.

Since I'm a little on the cash strapped side I'm trying to get as much info as possible without the outlay. I didn't order .495s to tryout cause most posts I've read only mentions .490s with this rifle. So I'm starting with .490s and goex 2f then different patches and powder loads to find the sweet spot.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[uncmrkhd]

you got Harbor Freight up there in Alaska? They sell a micrometer for $10 and it good for measuring cloth thickness, I also check resale shops for mens denim shirts to use for patch, found a 4X for $4 that measured 18k, been working good in a Kentucky 45cal.
Take a micrometer to walmart to see if they got Pillow Ticking or any fabric store, usually get it for about $10-$12 a yard and some stores have coupon sales too. I shoot 50cal 45cal and 32 cal. I like black powder but I've used all possible, Triple seven seems to burn cleanest but it's also the most expensive. It all works good but ya gota clean the guns more with some. Have fun ..its addictive

 

[rafterob]

I've had best accuracy with a .495 ball and pillow ticking. I don't attempt to measure it but appears to be .015

 

[mr.flintlock]

I have an old .54 caliber CVA Mountain Rifle that I built from a kit in 1980. If memory serves me correctly, these rifles were advertised to have a groove depth of .008 .Mine always has been a tack driver. I do agree with Colorado that a .490 ball, patched with a .015 patch should serve you well.

 

[mr.flintlock]

Steven, some things that can save you money on shooting supplies: Some walmarts sell .018 pillow ticking which works well. You can buy it by the yard and cut your own patches. Much less expensive than commercial cut patches. Home made patch lube can save you money. Two things that I have used successfully are, Olive oil, alcohol and water mixed in equal parts. or Murphy's oil soap, peroxide, and alcohol mixed in equal parts. I put mine in a little squirt bottle with a folding nozzle. I cover the little nozzle with my finger and give it a little shake before squirting it on the patch each time. And finally, You can save money by casting your own balls. Lee molds are good quality and inexpensive. Pure lead, lead dipper and a melting pot are the only other things that you will need. Buy different size lead balls until you determine what size works best before you order molds. Good luck with your new rifle.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Great advice.... :thumbsup:

 

[excess650]

My advice would be to use some lube that doesn't freeze. My preference for hunting is mink oil.

 

[Zonie]

While your saving money making your "Murphy's oil soap, peroxide, and alcohol mixed in equal parts", lube you can save even more if you leave out the peroxide and replace it with distilled water.

Hydrogen peroxide is unstable and if it is not kept in a tightly sealed bottle, it quickly turns into plain water while the hydrogen drifts off into the air.

Hydrogen Peroxide costs about $3.80 a quart which comes to about $15.20 a gallon. :shocked2:

A few weeks ago I bought a gallon of steam distilled water at Wal-Mart for 87 cents.

 

[coloradoclyde]

While your saving money making your "Murphy's oil soap, peroxide, and alcohol mixed in equal parts", lube you can save even more if you leave out the peroxide and replace it with distilled water.

Hydrogen Peroxide costs about $3.80 a quart which comes to about $15.20 a gallon. :shocked2:
.

Having personally tested that idea I can say Water works good enough that I haven't gone back to peroxide..... :thumbsup:

 

[Kansas Jake]

I started casting round balls years ago using an old steel sauce pan and a cheap steel gravy ladle that I bought for a a couple of dollars at a thrift store. I melted the lead on a coleman gas camp stove that I already had. I used that setup for a number of years. It did help when I bought a Lyman ladle, but I still use a steel pot and the camp stove to smelt salvage range lead and old plumbing lead pipe before it goes into my electric pot. I've heard of folks using an electric hot plate to heat the pot too, but have never done that myself. The point is, it doesn't take a fancy or expensive setup to get started in casting.

 

[Zonie]

Just for newbies to melted lead:

As Jake said, getting into casting lead is easy to do and it doesn't have to cost a lot.

Notice that Jake said he used a old, steel pot. That's good.

Don't try using an aluminum pot though.

Although aluminum doesn't melt until it gets up to 1200°F, aluminum at 600°F and higher has almost no strength at all.

More than a few people who decided to use an aluminum pot or pan to melt lead in had the bottom of their pot/pan totally fall out spreading molten lead everywhere.

OK. Back to the CVA Mountain Rifle. :grin:

 

[Sjfriend]

Have BIG problem with casting own lead here. I live in halibut / salmon fishing hot spot. Any lead around here gets top price for weights. A 2 lb ball weight (we use up to 5lb) goes for $$$.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Steven, even if you have to pay a couple of bucks a pound for lead, you will find in the long run that casting is cheaper than buying factory made RB's. Just be nice to plumbers and roofers and you may find someone who will sell you some cheap.

 

[Zonie]

This has gotten off of the track from a discussion about the CVA Mountain Rifle barrel but as usual, I did some research and calculating. :yakyak:

Using the prices at 4 different places for a box of 100 Hornady .490 diameter roundballs for a .50 caliber rifle, I find the average price is $15/box.
That works out to be $5.93/pound of lead.

For 100 .440 diameter roundballs for a .45 caliber rifle, at similar places, the average price per 100 balls is $11.60. That works out to be $6.34/pound of lead.

The moral of the story is, if a person can find lead for sale at less than $5.00/pound, eventually, the savings will pay for the bullet mold and other needed hardware to cast your own.

 

[Sjfriend]

Unfortunetly up here almost no one uses metal plumbing due to freezing threats. And most roofs are metal and screwed down. Then add fishing weights can go over $7 a pound, its hard to find cheap lead. But there is lots of lead around, you just have to beat off the people making weights.

At least off the bat I don't expect to be shooting a ton to begin with. Maybe by the time I'm ready to shoot more I'll have found some others around to share cost of getting lead up here.

And yes this thread has shifted a bit :youcrazy: but that's how conversations can go.

 

[coloradoclyde]

For 100 .440 diameter roundballs for a .45 caliber rifle, at similar places, the average price per 100 balls is $11.60. That works out to be $6.34/pound of lead.

Let's see....If a box of balls weighs about 2 pounds....And a box costs $11.60....And if I can get lead for .60cents/pound and make them for about $1.40/box of 100......I'm saving $10.20 a box......
If I shoot 55 grains of powder/shot at $15.00/pound....a hundred shots will cost me
$11.81...... :shocked2:

Boys!.....IT'S ALMOST LIKE SHOOTING FOR FREE.... :haha: